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Top WSU research coverage of 2022

While many want to put the pandemic in the past, unfortunately, 2022 proved that COVID‑19 is very much still here.

Washington State University’s most widely covered research of the year involved the discovery of a virus, a type of cousin to SAR-CoV-2, in Russian bats that could possibly jump to humans. This study demonstrates the impact and importance of WSU’s leading infectious disease research that hopefully, can help prevent or minimize the next viral outbreak.

Much of the WSU research that had the broadest general interest reach this year also had to do with health and wellness, ranging from the benefits of exercise to a new potential autism test to finding clues to fight diabetes from hibernating bears.

Michael Skinner.
Skinner

Top coverage about CAS research includes articles about biologist Michael Skinner’s study of twins that links exercise to beneficial epigenetic changes, and other biological and environmental scientists’ work to learn which proteins enable bears to regulate insulin.

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Forest debris could shelter huckleberry from climate change

Treasured by Native nations and sought by hikers and foragers, the mountain huckleberry is an iconic western fruit that faces habitat loss from climate change.

Washington State University scientists are at work in northwest forests, studying how fallen logs and other woodland debris could shelter the huckleberry from a hotter, drier future.

Mark Swanson.
Swanson

“Woody debris is a critical structure in the natural forest ecosystem,” said Mark Swanson, associate professor with WSU’s School of the Environment. “It’s a legacy of the older forest that benefits the next generation of shrubs and trees.”

Margaret Magee.
Magee

“Culturally and ecologically, the mountain huckleberry is a very important plant,” said Margaret Magee, a master’s student in the School of the Environment. “It produces a very desirable berry.”

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Bisexuals use cannabis more frequently for coping, enhancement

Young people classified as bisexual not only use cannabis more frequently but also are more likely to use it to cope with mental health issues and for what researchers call experiential “enhancement.”

A recent study, titled “The Pot at the End of the Rainbow,” is one of the first to examine motives for cannabis use among sexual minorities quantitatively. Led by Washington State University psychologists, researchers analyzed survey data from nearly 4,700 university students from across the country. Of the participants, 23% were classified as bisexual after indicating that they were not exclusively attracted to one gender.

Kyle Schofield.
Schofield

“The group classified as bisexual was more likely to report using cannabis to cope as well as for enhancement, which is a bit surprising,” said Kyle Schofield, a WSU Ph.D. candidate in psychology and first author on the study published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. “The coping motive was less surprising because we also saw that the group classified as bisexual reported higher levels of all the mental health problems that we looked at in the study.”

The bisexual group reported higher levels of cannabis use disorder, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, depression and suicidality than either the groups classified as exclusively “straight” or “gay”—findings that are in line with previous research.

Carrie Cuttler.
Cuttler

For this study, Schofield worked with his advising professor Carrie Cuttler to analyze archival data from an Addictions Research Team survey, which combines participant pools from 10 universities across the U.S.

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WSU Insider
Medical Express
Canada Today
SciTech Daily

Hikers may create ‘landscape of fear’ for animals

Hikers appear to have a strong negative influence on the movement of wildlife, research finds.

A study of Glacier National Park hiking trails during and after a COVID-19 closure adds evidence to the theory that humans can create a “landscape of fear,” as do other apex predators. Their presence seems to change how species use an area.

Researchers found that when human hikers were present, 16 out of 22 mammal species—predators and prey alike—changed where and when they used areas. Some completely abandoned places they previously used, others used them less frequently, and some shifted to more nocturnal activities to avoid humans.

Daniel Thornton.
Thornton

“When the park was open to the public, and there were a lot of hikers and recreators using the area, we saw a bunch of changes in how animals were using that same area,” says Daniel Thornton, wildlife ecologist at Washington State University and senior author of the study in the journal Scientific Reports.

“The surprising thing is that there’s no other real human disturbance out there because Glacier is such a highly protected national park, so these responses really are being driven by human presence and human noise.”

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Futurity
WSU Insider
The Hill
Labroots
Irish Times
KING 5
SFGate
Good Omen Project

WSU Graduate School fills two vacant associate vice provost positions

Greg Crouch.
Crouch

The Washington State University Graduate School has appointed Chemistry Professor Gregory J. Crouch as associate vice provost for graduate academic programs. Management and Entrepreneurship Professor Arvin Sahaym has been named associate vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives with the Graduate School.

Both appointments began with the start of the Spring 2023 semester.

In his new role as associate vice provost for graduate academic programs, Crouch will serve as liaison between the Graduate School and Faculty Senate Graduate Studies Committee and support assessment and data review processes. He will also oversee the transformation of the Graduate Mentor Academy.

Crouch holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from WSU and has been a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry since 1996. He currently serves as interim director of graduate studies and associate chair in the Department of Chemistry.

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